United States Senate election in Kansas, 1996

United States Senate election in Kansas, 1996

November 5, 1996

Nominee Pat Roberts Sally Thompson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 652,677 362,380 Percentage 62.0% 34.4%

County results

U.S. Senator before election Nancy Kassebaum Republican Elected U.S. Senator Pat Roberts Republican

The 1996 United States Senate election in Kansas was held November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. Republican Pat Roberts won the open seat.

Term limits were an issue during the campaign; while Roberts said that he was not totally opposed to term limits, he was wary of limits that did not apply to current members of Congress, saying that the proposed limits should apply to everyone. While Thompson signed the national term limits pledge from the group Americans for Limited Terms, Roberts declined to do so, becoming the only major party candidate for the U.S. Senate in the 1996 elections to not sign the pledge.^[1] However, he did say that "I plan only to serve two terms in the U.S. Senate."^[2] In 2014, he was elected to a fourth term in office.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Sally Thompson, Kansas State Treasurer

Results

Democratic Party primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sally Thompson	121,476	100.00
Total votes			121,476	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

• Pat Roberts, U.S. Representative
• Tom Little
• Tom Oyler
• Richard L. Cooley

Results

Republican primary results^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pat Roberts	245,411	78.21
	Republican	Tom Little	25,052	7.98
	Republican	Tom Oyler	23,266	7.41
	Republican	Richard L. Cooley	20,060	6.39
Total votes			313,789	100.00

General election

Candidates

• Mark Marney (Reform)
• Pat Roberts (R), U.S. Representative
• Steven Rosile (L)
• Sally Thompson (D), Kansas State Treasurer

Results

General election results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Pat Roberts	652,677	62.02%	-11.57%
	Democratic	Sally Thompson	362,380	34.44%	+8.05%
	Reform	Mark S. Marney	24,145	2.29%
	Libertarian	Steven Rosile	13,098	1.24%
Majority			290,297	27.59%	-19.61%
Turnout			1,052,300
	Republican hold		Swing

References

1. "Roberts sole candidate to resist term limits tide". Lawrence Journal-World. September 25, 1996. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
2. "Pat Roberts Said In 1996 He'd Only Serve Two Terms — He's Running For His Fourth". BuzzFeed. October 14, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
3. http://www.kssos.org/elections/96elec/96sum/p96ussum.html
4. http://www.kssos.org/elections/96elec/96sum/p96ussum.html
5. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1996/96Stat.htm#16